Ambassador  H.E. Mr Sonwabo Eddie Funde

Mr Funde holds credentials that qualified him as an Electrical Engineer, with a Master of Sciences degree from the St Petersburg Polytechnical Institute in St Petersburg in 1975.

He underwent further training in public policy and change management in a number of local and overseas institutions including an intensive Certificate courses in Public Administration at the Civil Service College in the UK in 1992, the Executive Candidates Programme at Wits University in 1993, the USIA Programme on Government Management and Training in 1992 and a Canadian Public Service Study tour in 1993.

He has also undergone training in Telecommunications Policy and Regulation at the Adam Smith Institute in 1997 (UK), and at the US Telecommunications Training Institute in Washington, San Francisco and Nebraska in 1998. In 2001 he completed a certificate course in finance and accounting at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) Business School

Prior to the advent of democracy in South Africa, Mr Funde, joined the African National Congress underground in South Africa after its banning in the early sixties, was forced into exile In 1965. Thereafter he served in various capacities of the African National Congress (ANC) for more than twenty year, including as:

• Head and International Head, ANC Youth Section, Zambia 1978 -1983
• Chief Representative Australasia and Pacific, 1883 – 1991
• Administrator and Researcher, Civil Service Unit, ANC in South Africa, Johannesburg 1992 – 1994

After the triumph of democracy in South Africa in 1994, he served in various public and private agencies in an executive and non- executive capacity, including setting up and directing a number of private Companies:

• Executive Director, South African Research and Development Trust, 1994 -1995
• Director, Independent Development Trust  (IDT), largest public entity for development implementation and policy, with special emphasis on rural development, 1995-1996. Later, non-executive Chairman and member of the Board of Trustees of the IDT 1997-2007
• Founder Executive Deputy Chairman, Council of the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, the first independent Telecommunications regulator (SATRA, now ICASA) 1997 - 2000 and founder Chairman of the Telecommunications Regulators Association of Southern Africa (TRASA, now CRASA) 1997 & 1998, the association of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Regulators of SADC countries.
• Non- executive Board member of Denel, the public arms manufacturer of South Africa, 1995 – 1997
• Non executive member of the Board of Directors of Eskom Holdings Limited, 1997- 2005
• Non – executive member of Murray, and Roberts, the largest engineering and construction company in South Africa. 2000 - 2008
• Founder Chairman of Kemilinks International (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd a private  all-African consultancy firm on Telecommunications policy and regulation and advisor to Minister of Communications of Rwanda on ICT restructuring in the country. Until recently, he founded and directed a number of other private companies in the ICT industry (2000-2008)
• Deputy Chairman of the Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development (2000-2008)
• President and Board Chairman of the South African Communications Forum (SACF), a major industry body in South Africa involving the major players in telecommunications, IT, broadcasting and electronics manufacturing. Telkom, Siemens-Nokia, Cell C, Didata and the SABC are among its members (2001-2008)
• Founder Chairman of Business Process enabling South Africa (BPeSA), which brings together all the major players in the contact centre and business processing industry throughout the country (2005-2008)
• Chairman of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the largest public broadcaster in South Africa and the African continent (Jan 2004-Dec. 2007)